quick glance
at Tika’s preoccupied face, Shivan began.
‘Clearly the Menedula
is the focus now, as the Citadel was in Kelshan and to a lesser
extent, the Karmazen Palace. We know strange beasts roamed these
lands for most of last summer, but they seem to have –
gone.’
Shivan looked to Volk
for further details. Volk shrugged.
‘Some were killed. Some
killed each other. We found a lot of their bodies but we couldn’t
see why they might have died – no injuries or such.’
‘None of them just lay
down and died in Kelshan, did they?’ Sket asked.
No one seemed entirely
sure, but all agreed the creatures had all been killed in
Karmazen.
‘They seemed less –
organised – here,’ Sket suggested. ‘Could that have been due to any
influence by Namolos?’
Khosa hunched lower on
Dog’s lap. ‘I have heard nothing through mind speech from Namolos
since Tika was snatched away.’
Faces turned to the
small orange cat, then away. They had all noticed she clearly felt
guilty about something whenever Namolos’s name was mentioned. Tika
listened but made no contribution to the talk. The thunder seemed
to lessen and Essa wandered over to peer out of one of the windows.
They could all see the sky above Essa’s head was clearing and the
rain had all but stopped.
Tika joined Essa, then
went to the door. She pulled it open and took one step outside,
Essa at her shoulder. Tika frowned. The air tasted wrong, it
tingled and prickled against her face. Essa dragged her back inside
even as Tika realised there was something seriously
amiss.
Essa was calling orders
to the guards and, after the briefest hesitation, Volk strode to
the hearth calling for water. Beela hurried in with a full pail
which Volk dashed into the fire. He upended a table and jammed it
across the front of the hearth, holding it tight to the
wall.
‘What is it?’ Babach
called anxiously.
‘The air’s wrong,’ Tika
called back as she rammed a blanket along the bottom of the outer
door.
Dog had pushed Khosa
into Shea’s arms and joined the other guards checking every door
and window in the building was tightly secured. Beela’s kitchen
fire had been doused and blocked off, and now she stood, with the
few Old Bloods who remained, by the door into the hall.
Tika noticed that none
of them seemed afraid, only watchful. She guessed all of them could
transform, so that would give them an edge if escape was called
for. But Tika’s lungs felt tight, after only two or three breaths
of that air. If escape was needed, could anyone, man or beast,
survive in obviously tainted air?
Chapter
Seven
His skull was elongated
and bald, the skin cracked into gullies and ravines. His eyes were
almond shaped, tilted upward at the outer corners, and were a very
light but definite green. The enforced rest after the debacle in
both Kelshan and the Dark Realm had brought a more complete
healing. To parts of his body at least. The Crazed One’s mind was
still a chaotic jumble of seething contradictions.
He returned to
awareness on the floor where he’d fallen, convulsed with impotent
rage and exhaustion. The matter of how long he’d lain thus was of
no consequence. Time was meaningless to him. He sat for a while,
leaning against a rippled wall and studied his legs. They seemed
more solid to him now, the many breaks having had time to heal more
firmly. Solid, yes, but rather twisted. No matter. They would
support him as he needed. If they broke again, as they would,
they’d mend.
He frowned at his hands
resting on his thighs. The frown cracked the skin between his eyes
but he didn’t even notice. The hands had three fingers and a thumb,
each digit tipped with a narrow horny nail, more like a claw. The
skin was dark grey, and the knuckles looked to be misplaced, as of
course they were, having been smashed countless times. He raised
his eyes and watched the shadows scuttle away into the lopsided
corners of the room.
His small ears
swivelled, catching
at Tika’s preoccupied face, Shivan began.
‘Clearly the Menedula
is the focus now, as the Citadel was in Kelshan and to a lesser
extent, the Karmazen Palace. We know strange beasts roamed these
lands for most of last summer, but they seem to have –
gone.’
Shivan looked to Volk
for further details. Volk shrugged.
‘Some were killed. Some
killed each other. We found a lot of their bodies but we couldn’t
see why they might have died – no injuries or such.’
‘None of them just lay
down and died in Kelshan, did they?’ Sket asked.
No one seemed entirely
sure, but all agreed the creatures had all been killed in
Karmazen.
‘They seemed less –
organised – here,’ Sket suggested. ‘Could that have been due to any
influence by Namolos?’
Khosa hunched lower on
Dog’s lap. ‘I have heard nothing through mind speech from Namolos
since Tika was snatched away.’
Faces turned to the
small orange cat, then away. They had all noticed she clearly felt
guilty about something whenever Namolos’s name was mentioned. Tika
listened but made no contribution to the talk. The thunder seemed
to lessen and Essa wandered over to peer out of one of the windows.
They could all see the sky above Essa’s head was clearing and the
rain had all but stopped.
Tika joined Essa, then
went to the door. She pulled it open and took one step outside,
Essa at her shoulder. Tika frowned. The air tasted wrong, it
tingled and prickled against her face. Essa dragged her back inside
even as Tika realised there was something seriously
amiss.
Essa was calling orders
to the guards and, after the briefest hesitation, Volk strode to
the hearth calling for water. Beela hurried in with a full pail
which Volk dashed into the fire. He upended a table and jammed it
across the front of the hearth, holding it tight to the
wall.
‘What is it?’ Babach
called anxiously.
‘The air’s wrong,’ Tika
called back as she rammed a blanket along the bottom of the outer
door.
Dog had pushed Khosa
into Shea’s arms and joined the other guards checking every door
and window in the building was tightly secured. Beela’s kitchen
fire had been doused and blocked off, and now she stood, with the
few Old Bloods who remained, by the door into the hall.
Tika noticed that none
of them seemed afraid, only watchful. She guessed all of them could
transform, so that would give them an edge if escape was called
for. But Tika’s lungs felt tight, after only two or three breaths
of that air. If escape was needed, could anyone, man or beast,
survive in obviously tainted air?
Chapter
Seven
His skull was elongated
and bald, the skin cracked into gullies and ravines. His eyes were
almond shaped, tilted upward at the outer corners, and were a very
light but definite green. The enforced rest after the debacle in
both Kelshan and the Dark Realm had brought a more complete
healing. To parts of his body at least. The Crazed One’s mind was
still a chaotic jumble of seething contradictions.
He returned to
awareness on the floor where he’d fallen, convulsed with impotent
rage and exhaustion. The matter of how long he’d lain thus was of
no consequence. Time was meaningless to him. He sat for a while,
leaning against a rippled wall and studied his legs. They seemed
more solid to him now, the many breaks having had time to heal more
firmly. Solid, yes, but rather twisted. No matter. They would
support him as he needed. If they broke again, as they would,
they’d mend.
He frowned at his hands
resting on his thighs. The frown cracked the skin between his eyes
but he didn’t even notice. The hands had three fingers and a thumb,
each digit tipped with a narrow horny nail, more like a claw. The
skin was dark grey, and the knuckles looked to be misplaced, as of
course they were, having been smashed countless times. He raised
his eyes and watched the shadows scuttle away into the lopsided
corners of the room.
His small ears
swivelled, catching
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